Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) led a bipartisan letter with 6 of his colleagues to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The letter highlights concern with Powell’s statement that the biggest supporting argument for a Fed-issued digital currency is that it could eliminate the need for private sector innovation. 

Specifically, Congressman Emmer asked,

• What steps is the Fed taking to coordinate with other federal regulators on the development of policy guidance for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, and other critical related policy issues such as custody and accounting, to ensure the United States remains a leader in financial innovation?
• What steps is the Fed taking on its own or in coordination with regional Federal Reserve Banks to provide regulatory clarity to banks that wish to offer cryptocurrency or other digital asset custody to their customers?
• When does the Fed plan to release the discussion paper exploring the design of a United States central bank digital currency (CBDC) and does the Fed intend to highlight the importance of preserving a marketplace of private payment networks?
• Since cryptocurrency networks facilitate a myriad of applications, from decentralized identity to decentralized file storage, do you believe a CBDC would make such applications, and the cryptocurrencies that power them, obsolete?

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